Winter Dew Tour Killington Friday Qualifier Full Recap/Results

VT native Jack Mitrani has been getting high in Vermont pipes for over a decade. Might be time for an intervention... PHOTO: Aaron Blatt

Neither overnight snow, dropping temps, nor pounding weather during the Pipe qualifiers stopped the prelim train from rolling on today, setting the stage for Superpipe Finals on Saturday, and Slopestyle Finals on Sunday.

Killington, Vermont hosts the East Coast’s biggest snowboard event this season, the 2011 Winter Dew Tour. The morning kicked off with Women’s Slopestyle qualifiers, as the ladies sacrificed last night’s powder drop for a chance to join the top five crew and advance to tomorrow’s Final. Spencer O’Brien came out in front, with Megan Ginter and Rebecca Torr rounding out the first three. They’ll be joined on Saturday by Nicki Slechta and Madison Blackley, as well as pre-qualified Breck Dew Tour winner, Jamie Anderson.

How dialed is Sebastién Toutant this season? We overhead a very heated discussion between a coupla Joeys about whether or not Vegas allowed betting on him. After which, they iced each other. PHOTO: Aaron Blatt

For the men, the double-cork air show didn’t quite take off as many had expected, with riders focusing on style and landings to get them through. Top nine would have the chance to take on Torstein Horgmo, Mark McMorris, and Chas Guldemond in Sunday’s final event. Park City’s Sage Kotsenburg held the steady hand, running the table with a 92.50 and 92.33 in his two runs—both the top-scored runs of the day. Eric Willett finished in second, Sebastien Toutant in third, with Tim Humphreys and Brandon Reis rounding out the top five.

As the night fell, so did the temps. And the snow—a lot of it. The women were the first to enter the powder pipe conditions, needing a top five finish to advance to Saturday’s final, where Breck Dew Champ, Queralt Castellet, awaits. When the dust (on crust?) settled, Vermont’s Kelly Clark flew far and away from the field, posting a 93 and 95 solid on her two qualifying runs. Completing the top spots were Gretchen Bleiler, Soko Yamaoka, Kelly Marren, and Elena Hight.

Men’s Superpipe Qualifiers saw Ben Watts jump into first position early, holding on ’til well into the second round. But it took a true Vermonter to brave the near-whiteout conditions and driving snowfall to claim the top spot by night’s end. Stratton, VT’s Spencer Shaw’s time on the ice and cold paid off (not to mention a pretty big 1260 in a semi-pow pipe), leading the nine qualifiers into tomorrow’s Final. Watts held strong in fifth, Steve “Stevesie!” Fisher double-stiffied to fourth, J-Town (sorry, Dew Tour, it’s not “K-Town”…) Mitrani landed in third, and JJ Thomas, on the verge of not qualifying before his second run, stomped it clean into second. They’ll be joined Saturday by pre-qualifiers Louie Vito, Matt, Ladley, and Greg Bretz.

Stay up on on everything going down at this year’s Dew Tour at Killington, VT, including VIDEOS, PHOTOS, and FULL RESULTS from Saturday’s Superpipe and Sunday’s Slopestyle finals, on Facebook (facebook.com/TWSnow), Twitter (@TWSnow), and right here, at TWSnow.com.